Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 1.27%, Shanghai Composite up 1.45%, Hang Seng up 1.26%, ASX up 0.50%
- Commodities : Gold at $1291.35 (-0.07%), Silver at $15.58 (+0.27%), Brent Oil at $61.95 (+1.26%), WTI Oil at $52.77 (+1.34%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.746, UK 10-year yield at 1.337, Germany 10-year yield at 0.244
News & Data:
- (NZD) Business NZ Manufacturing Index 55.1 vs 53.7 previous
- (USD) Natural Gas Storage -81B vs -73B expected
- (USD) Unemployment Claims 213K vs 219K expected
- (USD) Philly Fed Manufacturing Index 17 vs 9.7 expected
- (CAD) ADP Non-Farm Employment Change -13.0K vs 74.0K previous
- (EUR) Final Core CPI y/y 1.00% vs 1.00% expected
- (EUR) Final CPI y/y 1.60% vs 1.70% expected
- (EUR) Italian Trade Balance 3.84B vs 2.89B expected
- ECB rate hike to be delayed as recession risks rise again
- Italy’s Populists Try to Put to Rest Rumors Government Is Doomed
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets, led by Japan, are in positive territory on Friday amid optimism that U.S.-China trade tensions may ease after the Wall Street Journal said the U.S. is considering lifting tariffs on Chinese goods in an effort to calm markets and give Beijing an incentive to make deeper concessions.
Citing people close to internal deliberations, the Wall Street Journal said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin proposed the idea of lifting some or all tariffs in a series of strategy meetings.That optimism lifted shares in the Greater China region: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.3 percent in the afternoon.
On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai composite was up 1.5 percent while the Shenzhen composite and the Shenzhen component also rose. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 1.3 percent while the Topix index was up about 1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8 percent. Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 notched up 0.5 percent, with all sectors rising.
The dollar was mildly supported after U.S. Treasury yields rose amid the improvement in risk appetite in the broader markets. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 2.744 percent after going brushing 2.761 percent the previous day, its highest in three weeks.
U.S. crude oil futures extended gains after rising the previous day on a bounce in Wall Street and news that OPEC sharply curtailed production in December.
Upcoming Events:
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Retail Sales m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) CPI m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Common CPI y/y
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Median CPI y/y
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y
- 03:05 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Williams Speaks
- 04:00 PM GMT – (USD) Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment
- &more…
